A pilot study to determine the feasibility of a cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to change peer attitudes towards children who stutter

South African Journal of Communication Disorders

 
 
Field Value
 
Title A pilot study to determine the feasibility of a cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to change peer attitudes towards children who stutter
 
Creator Mallick, Rizwana B. Thabane, Lehana Borhan, A.S.M. Kathard, Harsha
 
Subject speech therapy; speech-language therapy; speech pathology; speech-language pathology stuttering; communication; classroom-based intervention; teasing and bullying
Description Background: While randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard of research, prior study is needed to determine the feasibility of a future large-scale RCT study. Objectives: This pilot study, therefore, aimed to determine feasibility of an RCT by exploring: (1) procedural issues and (2) treatment effect of the Classroom Communication Resource (CCR), an intervention for changing peer attitudes towards children who stutter. Method: A pilot cluster stratified RCT design was employed whereby the recruitment took place first at school-level and then at individual level. The dropout rate was reported at baseline, 1 and 6 months post-intervention. For treatment effect, schools were the unit of randomisation and were randomised to receive either the CCR intervention administered by teachers or usual practice, using a 1:1 allocation ratio. The stuttering resource outcomes measure (SROM) measured treatment effect at baseline, 1 and 6 months post-intervention overall and within the constructs (positive social distance, social pressure and verbal interaction). Results: For school recruitment, 11 schools were invited to participate and 82% (n = 9) were recruited. Based on the school recruitment, N = 610 participants were eligible for this study while only n = 449 were recruited, where there was n = 183 in the intervention group and n = 266 in the control group. The dropout rate from recruitment to baseline was as follows: intervention, 23% (n = 34), and control, 6% (n = 15). At 1 month a dropout rate of 7% (n = 10) was noted in the intervention and 6% (n = 15) in the control group, whereas at 6 months, dropout rates of 7% (n = 10) and 17% (n = 44) were found in the intervention and control groups, respectively. For treatment effect on the SROM, the estimated mean differences between intervention and control groups were (95% Confidence Interval (CI): -1.07, 5.11) at 1 month and 3.01 (95% CI: -0.69, 6.69) at 6 months. A statistically significant difference was observed at 6 months on the VI subscale of the SROM, with 1.35 (95% CI: 0.58, 2.13). Conclusion: A high recruitment rate of schools and participants was observed with a high dropout rate of participants. Significant differences were only noted at 6 months post-intervention within one of the constructs of the SROM. These findings suggest that a future RCT study is warranted and feasible.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Programme for Enhancement of Research Capacity (PERC) grant, University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship P
Date 2018-07-18
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Pilot cluster stratified randomised controlled trial; feasibility
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajcd.v65i1.583
 
Source South African Journal of Communication Disorders; Vol 65, No 1 (2018); 8 pages 2225-4765 0379-8046
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/583/879 https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/583/878 https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/583/880 https://sajcd.org.za/index.php/sajcd/article/view/583/877
 
Coverage Western Cape Metropolitan Urban Area in South Africa — Grade 7; 11 years and older; mixed gender
Rights Copyright (c) 2018 Rizwana B. Mallick, Lehana Thabane, A. S.M. Borhan, Harsha Kathard https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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